January 24, 2014

Last week, I did a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) about the draft environment chapter of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that appeared on WikiLeaks (spoiler: It's a terrible draft). People asked many good questions, but my favorite from the session was one I never get tired of hearing: "What can we do?"

In the case of the TPP, we can write to Congress. But every single day, there are things we can do, choices we can make, that help protect the planet. Small or large, they make a difference.

Many of those choices center on how we spend our money. You might favor environmentally responsible products or companies, for instance. But if you're gauging effort versus impact, it's tough to make a more effective choice than replacing your big bank credit card with one from a bank that shares your values: Allow me to introduce the new Sierra Club credit card from One PacificCoast Bank.

Not so long ago, switching credit cards -- not to mention banks -- was a serious hassle. Thanks to the digital age, that's no longer true. So why give your business to a giant corporation that may be financing the same kinds of projects that you're writing to Congress to stop -- especially if you don't have to sacrifice any convenience or features like reward points?

The Sierra Club chose to partner with One PacificCoast Bank for a reason. Their mission is "to build prosperity in our communities through beneficial banking services delivered in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner." The only part of that you'll find in the mission statement of most banks is "banking services."

Of course, by using a Sierra Club credit card, you are not only doing business with an environmentally responsible bank, you're also helping support the mission of the Sierra Club. By making one easy choice, you're doing something good for the planet all year long.

After all, no one ever said that everything that makes a difference has to be hard.

January 17, 2014

Yesterday, the Sierra Club and 17 other environmental, environmental justice, and public health advocacy groups sent a letter to President Obama in which we asked him to stop basing national energy policy on an "all of the above" strategy. If we want to reach the goal of 100 percent clean energy before our climate is catastrophically disrupted, then common sense demands that we prioritize clean energy -- and make it official -- right now. Here's what we told the president, followed by a link to the letter itself:

Dear Mr. President,

We applaud the actions you have taken to reduce economy-wide carbon pollution and your commitment last June "to take bold action to reduce carbon pollution" and "lead the world in a coordinated assault on climate change." We look forward to continuing to work with you to achieve these goals.

In that speech, you referenced that in the past you had put forward an "all of the above" energy strategy, yet noted that we cannot just drill our way out of our energy and climate challenge. We believe that continued reliance on an "all of the above" energy strategy would be fundamentally at odds with your goal of cutting carbon pollution and would undermine our nation's capacity to respond to the threat of climate disruption. With record-high atmospheric carbon concentrations and the rising threat of extreme heat, drought, wildfires and super storms, America's energy policies must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, not simply reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

We understand that the U.S. cannot immediately end its use of fossil fuels and we also appreciate the advantages of being more energy independent. But an "all of the above" approach that places virtually no limits on whether, when, where or how fossil fuels are extracted ignores the impacts of carbon-intense fuels and is wrong for America's future. America requires an ambitious energy vision that reduces consumption of these fuels in order to meet the scale of the climate crisis.

An "all of the above" strategy is a compromise that future generations can't afford. It fails to prioritize clean energy and solutions that have already begun to replace fossil fuels, revitalize American industry, and save Americans money. It increases environmental injustice while it locks in the extraction of fossil fuels that will inevitably lead to a catastrophic climate future. It threatens our health, our homes, our most sensitive public lands, our oceans and our most precious wild places. Such a policy accelerates development of fuel sources that can negate the important progress you've already made on lowering U.S. carbon pollution, and it undermines U.S. credibility in the international community.

Mr. President, we were very heartened by your commitment that the climate impacts of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would be "absolutely critical" to the decision and that it would be contrary to the "national interest" to approve a project that would "significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution." We believe that a climate impact lens should be applied to all decisions regarding new fossil fuel development, and urge that a "carbon-reducing clean energy" strategy rather than an "all of the above" strategy become the operative paradigm for your administration's energy decisions.

In the coming months your administration will be making key decisions regarding fossil fuel development -- including the Keystone XL pipeline, fracking on public lands, and drilling in the Arctic ocean -- that will either set us on a path to achieve the clean energy future we all envision or will significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution. We urge you to make climate impacts and emission increases critical considerations in each of these decisions.

Mr. President, we applaud you for your commitment to tackle the climate crisis and to build an economy powered by energy that is clean, safe, secure, and sustainable.

If you're like me, each new disaster leaves you angry and frustrated. That's normal. But here's the one thing we can't afford to forget:

It doesn't have to be this way.

Humanity has been given a wonderful gift: We know how to get all of the energy we need without using dirty or dangerous fuel sources. It's no longer a question of whether we can -- but of whether we will.

The amount of accessible energy from the sun and wind is far greater than what the entire world is projected to need in coming decades. The key word there is accessible. We already know how to reap that energy bounty -- worldwide -- with technology that already exists (and will only get even better).

This isn't speculation. Scientists and engineers have crunched the numbers and shown that it's doable: a 100 percent clean-energy economy.

Mark Z. Jacobson and Mark A. Delucchi, professors at Stanford and U.C. Davis, respectively, published an article in Scientific American five years ago that showed how the world could be powered by clean energy within decades. Last year, they published an even more detailed plan, in Energy Journal, for how the state of New York could switch to 100 percent clean energy by 2050. They've since produced draft plans for California and Washington, as well.

Read these plans, and you'll know right away that they aren't fanciful. Resources, technology, and economics are all taken into account: We can do this. Exactly how hard -- or easy -- will it be? My hunch is that it will be challenging but perhaps easier than most people think -- but the important point is that thisshould be our goal. If we know we can achieve 100 percent clean energy, why would we settle for less? Even if we set aside their many drawbacks, is there a single good reason to rely on coal, oil, or natural gas if we don't have to?

Every week, I read about new clean energy successes, whether it's yet another utility deciding to add more renewable generation (because it's the cheapest option), an innovative plan for financing community solar, or the news that the new Popemobile is an electric bicycle. Yesterday it was the news that both Spain and Denmark got more power from wind than any other source last year. I can't get enough of these stories. But I also know that each of them is only one more step toward the ultimate goal: 100 percent clean energy.

That's why every time I hear President Obama or someone in his administration talk about an "all of the above" energy policy, it's like fingernails on a solar panel. If someone asked you which way leads to the top of a mountain, would you tell them "all of the above"? Of course not. The route to the summit might not be direct or easy. But if you ever want to get there, you need to know which way is up and which way is down.

We all know the adage about the forest and the trees. People in general aren't always good at seeing the big picture or taking the long view. Politicians are usually worse than most. Leaders, though -- true leaders -- have the ability to show us the mountaintop and inspire us upward.

That's the kind of leadership we need to see from President Obama, and he can start by making it official that 100 percent clean energy is our goal.